driving

let’s drive north

poetry

and leave this all behind,
saying farewell to our lives,
dropping the imperatively meaningless tasks,
walking out on our fucking jobs,
jumping onto 25
to see where it will take us,
leaving texas behind (good riddance),
passing through new mexico
only to linger in colorado
before tackling wyoming,
montana,
continuing on with no directions,
with no definitions,
with no plans,
except to find canada’s cool embrace
before our lives find us
and drag us back
to the heat of our lives.

jalopy

poetry

i drove this rusty bucket down
what apparently was the wrong
way on a one way street, i noticed
because all of the ladies with their
children were dropping their jaws

i grinned because they look funny
with their mouths wide, waiting

my grin says be prepared

i was having a wicked conversation
that stuttered and stopped like
my old jalopy, i’d keep going
over the same lines driving
the wrong way and eventually
they’d get me (i knew)

i had the gumption but not
the guts to just gas it when they
pulled up behind me screaming,
waving their batons talking
about one way streets and
their directional nonsense

behind bars i dream of driving,
still.

I’d punch you in the nose if i could and gladly accept all the consequences to follow knowing that in some distorted way i’ve reclaimed that lost time

poetry

Fifty-five minutes
In stop-and-go traffic
Mostly stopped
Waiting for the terrible accident
Fallen tree in the road
Collapsed highway
Or some other great catastrophe
To be cleared
And at last sixty-five mph
Can be resumed
Only to discover
There wasn’t an earthquake
And the world isn’t ending

Instead a million rubberneckers
For the life of me
I’ll never understand
Have slammed their brakes
Staring in awe and wonder
At a solitary police cruiser
Lights flashing
On the side of the road

Do I get a refund on all
Of my time you just wasted?